Alameda County decides not to count homeless population this year
COVID-19 risks have prompted a year-long delay in the point-in-time homeless count, a “crucial data source.”
The “Here There” homeless encampment on the Berkeley-Oakland border: Alameda County is requesting a year-long delay to its annual count of homeless residents because of COVID-19 safety concerns.. Photo: Pete Rosos
Alameda County will request a year-long delay to its federally mandated count of homeless residents because of coronavirus safety concerns.
Counties across the U.S. are required to conduct “point-in-time” counts of unhoused residents every two years in January in order to receive federal homeless assistance funds. Groups of volunteers patrol the streets on a single night, tallying the number of homeless people they see and reporting data that are used not only to secure the federal funding, but to inform countless policy and resourcing decisions on the local and state levels as well.